211
A hotter planet is pushing older adults beyond the human body’s limits | As the planet warms and the population ages, millions of older adults could face heat their bodies can no longer tolerate. (www.mercurynews.com)
submitted 2 months ago by to c/climate@slrpnk.net
45 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

The paper is here

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] 9 points 2 months ago (1 child)

I have never been able to sleep mid-day (take naps) since I was 5 or 6. It upset my parents of course, when I was still "napping age" but "refused" to do so. Plenty of times as an adult I've been exhausted and still couldn't sleep. Cool room, blackout curtains, even a basement room without windows and away from other sounds wasn't enough.

Yesterday I pushed my spouse in a wheelchair for a bit in the park before we left because of the heat. I was out the minute I laid down and woke up 6 or 7 hours later still feeling like shit.

If my grandparents were around, I'm sure they wouldn't have made it through this summer since they never had AC

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • hideshow 1 child comment
    •
  • [–] 8 points 2 months ago

    You can deal with heat until you can't.

    Heat waves would commonly kill a lot of elderly and still do in places without regular AC. Even places where AC is common still set up places where people can go to access AC if they don't have it at home for various reasons.

    You're also seeing people living longer thanks to modern medicine with reduced overall health. So you have a larger population sensitive to heat because they can survive other things that could kill them.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent